PITTSBURG, Kan. —
The only undecided race on Nov. 6 at the county level in Crawford County is the one for county attorney, one that grew slightly more contentious last week during a public forum in which the challenger and incumbent took issue with one another.
Democrat Angela Trimble, a former assistant county attorney, is challenging Michael Gayoso Jr., who has been the lone Republican officeholder in Crawford County since January 2009.
In an interview outside of the forum, Trimble said she would bring change to the office.
“From the things I have heard and seen, diversions are being given that shouldn’t be,” she said.
Gayoso maintains the office’s diversion rate is “very much in line with other counties,” and that diversions require approval by the victims.
“For example, right now, we are working an aggravated battery case with $6,000 in medical bills, and we are entertaining a diversion in that case because the victim just wants his bills paid,” he said.
• Trimble, 46, is a Pittsburg resident and has served on the boards for the Child Exchange and Visitation Center, Mother to Mother Ministry, Domestic Violence Task Force and the Children’s Advocacy Center.
“I feel like I could be a good voice for victims,” Trimble said. “I would make sure victims have a voice, especially the kids.”
She said her passion for such advocacy was fueled by her volunteerism as a court-appointed special advocate for children while at Kansas State University.
Gayoso said he does not believe his opponent is qualified for certain cases, including capital murder and appeals.
“There is a huge difference regarding my experience and my opponent’s,” he said. “I have more than two dozen criminal appeals with appellate courts and my opponent has never argued in any appellate court nor handled one single criminal appeal.”
Trimble has been practicing law in Southeast Kansas for approximately 17 years, including at a private firm in Parsons, at SEK Legal Services in Pittsburg, at the Southeast Kansas Public Defender’s Office in Chanute, and three years as assistant county attorney for Crawford County.
Since 2006, she has been with Spigarelli Law Firm. She is a member of the Crawford County Bar, the Kansas Bar, the Oklahoma Bar and the Kansas Trial Lawyers’ Association.
“I would be in office all the time; it’s a commitment,” she said. “I have spoken with current and former employees, and I think it’s important. You need to be there. It shows commitment to the job. And the office could do better at communicating with local law enforcement.”
• Gayoso, 40, of Frontenac, said he always is reachable by cellphone, and that occasionally he works from home when his children are sick or do not have school.
He said he “always felt the prior administration wasn’t doing the job it should.”
“Since my election, I feel like we have had an excellent rate — a 90 percent felony conviction rate,” he said. “Our office has also worked very hard to attack the drug issues in Southeast Kansas.”
He has practiced criminal law for 13 years, and is licensed in the state of Kansas, the U.S. District Court of Kansas and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He has two dozen opinions in the Kansas Appellate Courts, and has argued before the Kansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. As a prosecutor, he has more than 600 felony convictions.
His record includes convictions of 29 child predators, six murderers and 26 manufacturers of methamphetamine.
He noted that under his leadership, the office has been under budget for three consecutive years.
Gayoso holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and a juris doctorate from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kan.
He is a member of the National and Kansas District Attorney Association, Children Advocacy Task Force, the Domestic Violence Task Force, the Community Corrections Advisory Board, and is a nationally selected member of the Order of Barristers.
Before his election as Crawford County attorney, he was the Kansas Lottery commissioner.
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